Families who deal with inequities or social determinants that challenge their overall wellbeing and quality of life are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to both getting and staying healthy. When it comes to root-cause unhealthy behaviors, the impact is often intergenerational. Experts have found that behavior-change lifestyle interventions can re-set the course of families toward better health.

Evidence-based lifestyle interventions to help boost better health is a major focus of the Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change™, a collaboration between Centene Corporation, the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. Dr. Debra Haire-Joshu, faculty director of the Envolve Center and Dr. Mary Mason, senior vice president of Centene Corporation and chief medical officer of Envolve, will be presenting on “The Humanization of Healthcare: Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Improve Behavior Change,” at the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) National Conferences on Medicare, Medicaid & Duals on September 28, in Washington, D.C. Their presentation will address behavior-based healthcare interventions and partnerships, and the impact these initiatives have in building long-term healthy behaviors. They will review programs that educate and also eliminate obstacles to care, starting with early interventions with pregnant mothers and then, their children, to promote healthy choices mitigating future chronic health conditions, including childhood obesity and diabetes.

Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., an internationally renowned scholar of health behavior, will share research findings related to the use of peer coaching with Medicaid families participating in Envolve’s Raising Well® pediatric obesity program. The project draws comparative data between a standard telephonic coaching model and home visits by trained individuals with similar backgrounds and experiences to the participants. The latter is a community health coaching model that provides a more individualized context and sense of place for building rapport, trust, and small behavior change tools first, to build upon over time. Haire-Joshu will also draw from her National Institutes of Health gestational case study experience that, while separate from the Envolve Center, was in part a seed to develop the peer coaching study to dive deeper into obesity’s root causes, consequences, and solutions.

Mary Mason, M.D., leads Envolve’s development of many award-winning clinical programs designed to help lower Medicaid health costs and improve health outcomes. A clinical instructor of internal medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine with health policy expertise, she’ll discuss the prenatal Start Smart for Your Baby® program, as well as what drives behavior change, and how to close healthcare gaps.

“The Envolve Center’s in-depth research is a wonderful pairing of real-world experience with academia,” said Mason.“We all bring something special to the table, with our joint goal being better health outcomes across the board, but, especially for those at particular risk. With our partners, we have combined expertise. There’s always strength in numbers.”

The bigger picture? The Envolve Center partnership is all about examining different models for delivering evidence-based care; what Haire-Joshu calls “a really important population approach” for everybody. She adds that getting people healthier more affordably through behavior change, not drugs, is “a good preventive investment.” Both doctors are excited about that.